Consistently Artful /212

Y (May '23)

SCORE: Tell yo' friends

HIGHLIGHTS: Liquid Ravioli, Puffed seabass and deer roasted in hay

VALUE: Yes - 390€ for the tasting menu and wine pairing with cheese

I first started visiting 212 back in 2019 before the pandemic. It was a restaurant with primarily countertop seating around the kitchen, and maybe 2 6 tops for larger groups. It sits in an unassuming corner unit of a building along the Amstel. My first couple of visits were extremely memorable as the food was light, yet satisfyingly filling and beautifully plated, presented and conceptualized.

Last year however, they suffered a tragic fire that rendered them closed for months, and this was one of my first visits there since the fire. They have redone the place now, with counter seating only flanking two sides of the kitchen, and the front side of the kitchen being opened up for viewing as well as for 4 3-tops. a corner 6-top still remains. This was just such an unusual touch that it stuck in my mind. I like this new change in their decor, as it made the restaurant a lot more open than it used to be.

On this occasion, as I normally do, I asked for the full tasting menu along with the wine pairing. A friend of mine happened to be in Amsterdam for a trip as well, so she joined in for this meal, and thanks to her dietary restrictions, I was also able to see what they served the vegetarian patrons.

As I have come to realize while writing these, it is often difficult and laborious to write up about each and every dish, so going forth for all the tasting menus that I go to, I will have photos of as many courses as I can soberly take a photo of, and I will just talk about some of the highlights and memorable things throughout the meal, whether they be food related or not

Something you will realize when you first come to this restaurant, is that there're no servers bringing cutlery to the table... that's because each diner's cutlery is neatly put away in a drawer under the table, in individual cutouts for each utensil. This still makes me smile, as it's the only place that I have been to that does this, and it makes for such clean lines and a clear table all the time.

The first thing that struck me for today's meal was actually the champagne that they offered. I am not a big fan of champagne, or for that matter any sparkling wine. This is why when the sommelier insisted that I had to try it because it was extra brut, I was skeptical but decided to take his advice. and boy did I not regret that decision. the extra brut champagne was dry, with the bubbles serving as a relief from that alcohol content. It was a beautifully refreshing start to the meal.

A lot of times restaurants use molecular techniques for the sake of doing something different, and I generally hate that. There needs to be a purpose to why you're doing things a certain way. For one of the amuse bouche's in today's meal, they gave me a 'liquid ravioli' filled with shitake and umeshu broth and foie gras. It was one of those deals similar to Gaggan's yoghurt thing, or el bulli's olive thing, probably done with alginate, etc. The liquid ravioli made so much sense because this was a unique way to serve a soup and a good way to provide all the flavors listed in the ingredients above at once, and to allow me to experience the interplay between them, rather than tasting one item after the next. This was definitely memorable, and I hope it is kept on rotation

I usually am a fan of a nice pan seared fish, and this was no exception. This seabass was cooked skin side down so the scales puffed up and created this crunchy-meaty combination as you bit through a section of fish. What got me particularly excited this time round, was that the sauce was prepared with vin jaune! I love vin jaune, and am bummed that most places don't carry it or most people don't appreciate the flavours it brings. They highlighted and concentrated those flavors, and the acidity that brought really helped the fish shine. I only wish they offered a pour of vin jaune so that people would be able to taste vin jaune by itself. Basically, I was grumpy that I didn't also get a pour of it in the process.

The last highlight for me was definitely the deer. It was probably my favorite dish of the night! It was a hay cooked deer, probably sous-vide prior to hay roasting, served with a spicy-earthy broth of padron peppers and lemongrass. The smokiness of the deer was so delightful, and while a cliche, it didn't make it any less yummy.

212 still remains one of my definite go-to's any time I'm in amsterdam if I can get a spot, and after this meal, there is no change in its status as that. I'm a fan, and I'm intrigued to see if their Singapore outpost, Table65 where the old Joel Robuchon used to be, stacks up.